1 / 19

THE AMERICAS

THE AMERICAS. Maya Aztecs Inca. Maya. Upper Class King is highest Priests, Warriors and Merchants Rulers are related to the gods Priests are born into their role - most educated Merchants directed trade and organized transportation/distribution of goods. Lower Class:

maris-lambert
Download Presentation

THE AMERICAS

An Image/Link below is provided (as is) to download presentation Download Policy: Content on the Website is provided to you AS IS for your information and personal use and may not be sold / licensed / shared on other websites without getting consent from its author. Content is provided to you AS IS for your information and personal use only. Download presentation by click this link. While downloading, if for some reason you are not able to download a presentation, the publisher may have deleted the file from their server. During download, if you can't get a presentation, the file might be deleted by the publisher.

E N D

Presentation Transcript

  1. THE AMERICAS Maya Aztecs Inca

  2. Maya • Upper Class • King is highest • Priests, Warriors and Merchants • Rulers are related to the gods • Priests are born into their role - most educated • Merchants directed trade and organized transportation/distribution of goods.

  3. Lower Class: • Majority of Maya are lower class - farming families • Farmers had to dive some crops to rulers • Had to work on building temples, palaces, etc. • Slaves = lowest people

  4. Religion: • Gods related to different aspects of daily life • Gods needed to be pleased in order to help people • People offer blood to gods by piercing their tongue or skin • On special occasions where they needed more blood - human sacrifices. (usually prisoners captured in battle)

  5. Achievements: • Science and math; writing • Sculptures and jewelry • Temples and buildings • Observatories used for astronomy • Calendar • Number system (with zero) • Writing system (similar to Egyptian hieroglyphics) • Popol Vuh - book of legends and history written after the Spanish arrival.

  6. Aztecs • Geography: • Central Mexico • Swamps of Lake Texcoco • War, Tribute, Trade: • War = key factor in rise to power • Made alliances to grow empire • Made conquered people pay Tribute - goods such as cotton, gold, food. • Controlled huge trade network - merchants acted as spies. • War, tribute, trade = made Aztecs rich = allowed the empire to continue to grow.

  7. Tenochtitlan: • Tenochtitlan = capital of Aztecs • Connected to empire by causeways - roadways raised over ground/water • Contained aqueduct to carry clean water. • Created Chinampas - floating gardens to grow crops • One of the largest cities at 200,000.

  8. Cortes: • Spanish soldiers (conquistadors) came to Mexico - led by Hernan Cortes in 1519 • Looking for gold • Aztec emperor = Moctezuma II • God Quetzalcoatl was supposed to return to Mexico in 1519 = thought Cortes was a god. • Cortes is welcomed and then takes emperor prisoner • Spanish conquer Aztecs due to: (1) alliances with enemies; (2) better weapons; (3)geography; (4) disease

  9. Aztec Society: • Aztecs live in groups called calpullis - community of families sharing land, schools, and temple. • King: most important person; in charge of law, trade, tribute, warfare • Nobles: position by birth - educated to help kings • Priests: kept calendars; passed down traditions; perform religious ceremonies. • Warriors: highly respected because they helped expand/protect the wealth of the empire.

  10. Merchants/Artisans: not part of upper class, but still respected and wealthy • Farmers / Slaves: lowest class of society - but could improve situation by becoming a warrior or going to special school; slaves used as sacrifice if they did not follow orders.

  11. Religion: • Gods ruled all parts of life. • Gods must be pleased. • Greatest sacrifices were made to Hutzilopochtli (god of war) and Tlaloc (rain god) • Many of the human sacrifices were warriors from other tribes that had been captured. • Sacrificed as many as 10,000 a year in ceremonies.

  12. Achievements: • Astronomy and calendar (based on previous system by Maya) • Plants as medicines (more than 100) • Architecture, sculpture, jewelry, mosaics • Complex system of writing - written historical records (Codex) • Strong oral tradition (riddles)

  13. Inca • Geography: • South america - Andes region of Peru • Born out of the Chavin and Nazca peoples • Capital = Cuzco • Early Society: • Pachacuti - leader that encouraged the first expansion of the Inca • Expansion stretched form Peru to Equador, Chile, etc. - wide range of geography and climate

  14. Central Government and Language: • Isolated leaders of villages that they conquered to make sure they wouldn’t have much power. • Made children of conquered people go to capital to learn about Inca • Inca establish and official religion and language (Quechua) • No written language - though records were kept using knotted chords called quipus.

  15. Economy: • No taxes - but people had to “pay” in labor = labor tax system is called mita. • Most Inca are farmers - grow things like potatoes; raise animals like llamas • People work on government owned farms in addition to their own. • No merchants or markets - government distributes all goods collected through mita.

  16. Pizarro: • Civil war in Inca Empire around 1530. • Atahualpa becomes new leader of Inca. • Conquistador named Francisco Pizarro comes to the Inca early in Atahualpa’s leadership • Spanish conquer Inca based on: (1) overconfidence; (2) weaponry; (3) disease; (4) internal problems

  17. Social Class: • Upper Class = King, Priests, Government officials - well educated and lived in luxury - however they had to make sure people were taken care of. • Lower Class = farmers, artisans, servants - farmed, served in the army, worked in mines, etc. - lived outside of capital, wore plain clothes, and were not allowed to have more than they “needed”

  18. Religion: • Had an official religion to promote unity. • Sun god was important to Inca - people believed that the kings were related to the sun god. • Mummies of kings were brought out during ceremonies - people believed they never died. • Ceremonies often include sacrifice - rarely human - usually llamas, cloth or food

  19. Achievements: • Building and masonry (stonework) - so precise that they did not need cement to hold them • System of roads throughout the empire and bridges to cross difficult terrain • Jewelry and sculpture, textiles (such as cloth and rugs) • Oral literature - official memorizers learned long poems about legends and history

More Related